Ulf Samuelsson's Sons, Now Teammates, Face Wolf Pack In Hartford

For Ulf Samuelsson, a few stages of his life will collide Saturday night.

While Samuelsson, an assistant coach for the Rangers, does his job against the Devils at Madison Square Garden, his sons will be taking the ice at one of his old homes.

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The Wolf Pack are playing the Portland Pirates at the XL Center, the building where Samuelsson skated as a Whalers defenseman for nearly seven seasons. Samuelsson's sons, Philip and Henrik, are teammates on the Pirates and will be playing together in Hartford for the first time.

"If I could be there, I would," Ulf Samuelsson said. "But my wife [Jeanette] is going up. Grandma, a lot of family and friends. There will be people there for them."

Ulf was in the XL Center stands when the Wolf Pack hosted the Pirates on Oct. 18. Henrik, 20, was in the Portland lineup that night, but that was six weeks before the brothers became teammates.

On Dec. 5, the Arizona Coyotes acquired Philip from the Pittsburgh Penguins and assigned him to Portland. Philip, 23, is a defenseman and was a 2009 second-round draft pick who appeared in five NHL games with the Penguins last season.

Henrik, a right wing, was a first-round pick in 2012 and is considered a top prospect. He was born in 1994 — three years after Ulf was traded by the Whalers — and spent much of his childhood in Arizona, where his father was a Coyotes assistant coach in 2006-11.

The reunion in Portland marks the first time the brothers have played hockey together, aside from charity events and pickup games. Henrik played in the U.S. development program and spent one season in Sweden before playing junior hockey in the Western Hockey League. Philip played at Avon Old Farms for one season — when Ulf was a Wolf Pack assistant —before playing in the U.S. development program and in the junior USHL, leading to two seasons at Boston College.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, the brothers are teammates in the AHL.

"It's pretty exciting," Ulf said. "I'm also happy because I know, obviously, that it's a good organization, having worked there. I know there's good people involved throughout the organization, both in Phoenix and in Portland. So I was happy that the kids were going to play together as well."

Ulf, 50, monitors the boys daily, watching games on the Internet or TV when available. He checks the box scores and chats with them.

"And if it's within a three-hour drive and I'm off, I'll hit the game," Samuelsson said.

And yes, the sons seek his advice. He does, after all, have a resume of 16 NHL seasons as a player and another seven as an assistant coach.

"But you've got to be pretty careful," Samuelsson said. "You don't want to tell them to do something that goes against the team's philosophy. I always make sure that I completely understand what they're trying to do so occasionally there's some detail that I can help with. They both have been under such good coaching staffs … but there are some small details there. But I don't think I can tell them anything that their coaches aren't saying as well."

Mostly, the advice is about off-ice concerns: preparing for a game, eating well, managing travel and time away from the rink.

"I've been through it, and I've seen people come through as a coach for a number of years," Ulf said. "I know the difficulties that they deal with. All those things that as a coach in the National Hockey League, you've worked with on a daily basis. So with the general advice, you can help out for sure."

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In 27 games, Henrik has five goals and six assists. The AHL is not an easy jump for a 20-year-old transitioning from juniors, so Henrik's production is about right.

Philip has two assists in eight games with the Pirates. This is his fourth AHL season, and he's inching closer to an NHL job.

"He's had some good years," Ulf said. "He's sort of a late bloomer. He's getting better and better over the last couple of years. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the call sometime soon."

Philip was born in Sweden on July 26, 1991, nearly five months after his father was traded by the Whalers to the Penguins in the infamous Ron Francis deal that brought John Cullen and Zarley Zalapski to Hartford.

Samuelsson was just a few weeks shy of his 27th birthday when he was traded by the Whalers, and he would play for the Penguins, Rangers, Red Wings and Flyers before retiring. His longest stint with any team was his time in Hartford, and he is still remembered by many as a Whaler, first and foremost.

"Even now, I see people [wear] a Whalers logo, and if I have time, maybe stop and talk to them," he said. "They remember everything. There was a unique bond there. We had some great years and we had great support and great fans."

How does he look back on his years in Hartford?

"I think it is special because it was the first professional hockey team I played for," Samuelsson said. "Even though we didn't win a Stanley Cup, we had a couple of years when we were pretty good. So we had some success there. Being in a little smaller market or a smaller city, we became real close because there's only so many places you can go. We had some great people come through and play when I was there, too.

"Looking back at the years, it's hard to trump the years in Pittsburgh when we won two Cups, because that's all want to do, is win. But it was a special time in my life."

And he still cherishes the memories of playing in the arena on Trumbull Street. So it's going to be fun for his kids to skate on the same sheet of ice Saturday.